Volume 6
Chapter 18
A jet-black giant dragon, not bothering to hide its raging fury that felt as if its guts were boiling, was raising its leg to trample the minuscule human in front of it in a vast, seemingly endless lakeside. The human, who was as small as a bean in the Dragon's eyes, flew away from the spot at a speed like a gust of wind, refusing to be crushed, and swung the katana in its hand in retaliation. The Ki blade, sharpened to its limit, hit Tiamat's leg, but it was deflected like a raindrop in front of the jet-black shining Dragon scales and scattered in vain.
The Dragon's foot,
which had been brought down, crashed into the ground, and the pulverized
bedrock attacked Nozomu with a shockwave. The shockwave, which was released in
all directions, ran across the ground like a beast, giving Nozomu no chance or
place to evade.
Nozomu swung his
Ki-infused katana in a circle, and used the Ki technique Fan Sail Lotus to
block the attacking shockwave. The expanded Ki membrane bent and let out a
crackling scream, but the Fan Sail Lotus firmly blocked Tiamat's shockwave.
However, Nozomu, who was swallowed by the shockwave and hit by the flying
rocks, had his feet completely stopped.
Tiamat used its foot,
which was planted on the ground, as a pivot to rotate its body and swung its
tail, which had gained momentum, at Nozomu. Nozomu, whose feet were completely
stopped, had no way to evade, and he was sent flying far away without even
being able to let out a cry of pain.
Nozomu's body was
slammed into the ground many times. The sound of his bones being crushed echoed
in his ears, and his vision continued to spin. After about 10 seconds, his body
finally stopped. However, his body was already in tatters. He somehow tried to
get up, but his left arm and right leg were completely crushed, and they
dangled limply like an octopus. A sharp pain ran through his side, and blood
clots overflowed from his mouth with each cough, as if his broken ribs had
pierced his lungs.
Nozomu, who was
mortally wounded in just one blow, was cornered. Even so, he propped up his
body, which was unable to stand properly, with his right hand, gritted his
teeth, and stood up. And he looked straight at the giant Dragon, which was
showing off its presence in front of him. Even if he couldn't win in power, he
would not give up his will. The eyes that were lit with a light of strong will
were directed at Tiamat.
!!
That look in his eyes
made Tiamat even more irritated.
How can you
look at me like that?! Why don't you give up?! Why... would you say such things
to the person who betrayed you?!
Tiamat, with an anger
that felt as if an old wound was being gouged out, opened its mouth.
I will never
acknowledge it!
With that clear
rejection and resentment in its chest, the giant Dragon gathered all of its
power in its throat and unleashed its burning anger to completely deny the
human who was glaring at it in front of it. The giant flame of chaos, which
evaporated the lake water, gouged out the ground, and moved forward, instantly
swallowed Nozomu and blew him away without a trace. After the giant flame
passed, only the gouged-out ground remained.
This time...
Such a thought crossed
the giant Dragon's mind, but immediately after, a bell-like sound,
"Ring...", echoed in the space.
Ugh?!
At the same time,
ripples spread across the water surface, and countless chains shot out from the
bottom of the lake. The chains, which extended into the air like a flock of
birds taking flight, attacked the jet-black Dragon like a hunting dog the next
moment and began to bind its body. The chains that came out one after another
wrapped around Tiamat's body in multiple layers, taking away the Dragon's
freedom.
Damn it! You
hateful thing!
Tiamat spread its
wings to escape from the chains. However, the chains, which at first glance
seemed unreliable, somehow completely suppressed the brute strength of the
jet-black Dragon, and no matter how much Tiamat flapped its wings, it was not
allowed to soar high into the air.
Even so, Tiamat
desperately continued to resist. It flapped its wings, drove its fangs into the
chains, and fired light bullets. But it couldn't even put a single scratch on
the chains wrapped around its body, and finally, the chains became entangled in
its wings, and the Dragon was dragged down into the lake.
Tiamat was then
dragged into the lake. It put strength into its tree-like legs to escape, but
it still couldn't resist, and its huge body gradually sank into the lake. Its
legs, torso, wings, and neck were completely submerged, and the water surface
was up to its throat. Tiamat desperately shook its head, but there was no way
to escape. And with a "gurgling" sound, the remaining head was
completely submerged.
At the same time, its
consciousness faded. Fury, revenge, disappointment, resignation, loneliness.
While being eroded by these chaotic emotions, the Dragon sank into the depths
of the lake. Until its eyes closed, it continued to glare at the shining water
surface with a hateful, frustrated, and somewhat sad look.
***
Vibrant voices were
echoing throughout the academy. Boys and girls in white uniforms were walking
down the corridors with smiles on their faces. It was a familiar scene in the
afternoon, a scene of daily life in this academy city. But that peaceful
atmosphere was suddenly broken.
"Gaaaaah!!"
A scream like a death
cry echoed throughout the school building. The students, who had jumped in
surprise, had their eyes directed at the Martial Arts Garden, which had just
been repaired recently. Explosions continued to echo. The consecutive roars of
"Boom! Boom!" sounded like the march of a giant.
The explosive sounds
that had been shaking the air in the academy for a while stopped after a
particularly loud sound and a cloud of dust, and then they were no longer
heard. "Hush..." The entire academy fell silent. The students, who
had no idea what had happened, just looked up at the white Martial Arts Garden
with dazed expressions.
Inside the Martial
Arts Garden, which had been echoing with roars until a moment ago, a single
great man was standing with a huge greatsword stuck in the ground. Outside the
field were Irisdina, Shina, and Somia from Ecross. In front of him was Nozomu,
who was lying face down like a rag.
When he was about to
leave the classroom for lunch break, Nozomu was caught by Jihad, who was
waiting in front of his classroom, and was taken to the Martial Arts Garden to
have another mock battle.
"...He's not
responding. He's like a corpse."
Feo ran up to Nozomu,
who was lying on the ground like a toad, and poked him with a stick while
shrugging his shoulders and saying something that sounded like a joke.
"...I'm
alive."
"Gyah!"
Nozomu let out a
terrifying voice and grabbed Feo by the tail. Feo, who had let out a cry of
surprise from having his tail suddenly grabbed, turned around and saw Nozomu
looking up at him with a dark smile. Feo's face twisted in fear at his
appearance, which was like a specter that had crawled up from the depths of
hell.
"Oh, is that you,
Nozomu-san? You're alive?"
"Yeah,
unfortunately. I'm borrowing your tail for a bit."
"Wait! My tail is
sensitive... Aah!"
Nozomu stood up using
Feo's tail as a rope. The mischievous fox was yelping, but Nozomu completely
ignored him. When he gave the tail a big pull at the end, Feo let out an even
bigger scream and fell down.
Nozomu patted the dirt
off his hands and faced Jihad.
"Hmm, it's still
well-polished. Your plan to seal my sword is not bad either. But I think you
could have lasted a little longer."
"What are you
talking about after throwing me into the air and taking away my
freedom...?"
Nozomu muttered that
in a raspy voice. The result was, as they could see, Nozomu's utter defeat.
Nozomu somehow saw through the swinging greatsword and dodged the Jaw Breaker
that Jihad had brought down, making it sink into the ground. He then jumped
onto the greatsword and ran across it, attacking with his Ki technique, Phantom
-Clad-, on his katana. He sealed his opponent's weapon with his own weight and
then closed the distance to swing his katana.
Normally, his opponent
would have either abandoned his weapon and dodged or taken a hit from Nozomu's
slash. However, Jihad had forcefully pulled out the greatsword that was stuck
in the ground with the weight of an adult man on it, and had thrown Nozomu into
the air.
His actions were too
unreasonable, and his brute strength made it possible. Nozomu was dazed for a
moment while being thrown into the air, and before he knew it, he had been slammed
to the ground with the flat side of the greatsword.
"Leaving the final
blow aside, you dodge well. Even though your body has no Ki to spare..."
"Well, thank
you... By the way, don't you have anything else to say about this?"
Nozomu glared at Jihad
with a side-eye. On the other hand, Jihad tilted his head as if to say,
"What are you talking about?"
"Hmm? Did I hold
back too much? I understand that I can't swing my sword like I did in the last
mock battle. I thought I held back to a certain extent?"
"That's not what
I mean!"
Nozomu pointed to the
gouged-out and dug-up ground. The magical barrier of the Martial Arts Garden
was completely fine, but the field itself was a terrible sight, looking as if a
giant had gone on a rampage. Well, the one who had been rampaging was a person
who could easily kick away a giant.
"Look at this
mess, it's full of holes! What kind of battlefield is this?! And Inda-sensei
has fainted while standing up!"
Outside the field,
Inda-sensei was standing there with a dazed look. Tima and Shina were patting
her on the shoulder and calling out to her, but there was no response. She was
like a corpse.
"Hmm... Well,
it's true that there are a lot of holes, but not a single magical barrier was
broken, so there's no problem."
"That's
enough..."
Nozomu put his hand on
his forehead and looked up at the sky. When he first met him and when he told
him about his Master, Nozomu thought he was such a reasonable person. However,
it seemed that this person, just like Shino, had a part of him that was beyond
common sense. Nozomu, who was slumping his shoulders, let out a big sigh of
resignation.
"Well then, we'll
be heading back..."
"Hmm, you've
worked hard. I hope you'll work hard in your afternoon classes as well."
Nozomu and the others
left the Martial Arts Garden, muttering a lifeless "Yes..."
Jihad watched their
backs, but when he heard a heavy voice from behind him and turned around, he
saw a gloomy-looking Inda standing there. Perhaps due to the reflection of the
light, he couldn't see what was behind her glasses, and she was shaking her
shoulders.
"Jihad-sensei..."
"Ah, Ms. Inda.
It's about time..."
Inda cut off Jihad,
who was about to say, "Let's have lunch," and handed him something.
Jihad, who had received it without thinking, looked down at what was in his
hand, and it was a large shovel.
"Please take care
of the cleanup."
"...Huh?"
Jihad let out a dazed
voice at Inda's declaration, who was pointing at the large hole in the arena
with an atmosphere that didn't allow for any refusal. Afterward, it was said
that a large man in silver armor was desperately filling up the large holes in
the ground.
***
"What a terrible
experience..."
Nozomu, who was
muttering with an exhausted look on his face, was heading to the academy
courtyard with his friends after leaving the Martial Arts Garden. His face was
not looking well, probably because of the terrible experience he had in the
mock battle just now.
"Nozomu-san, are
you okay?"
Somia asked, looking
up at Nozomu with a worried expression. Nozomu tried to wave his hand and say,
"I'm fine," but he was stopped by a voice that suddenly called out to
him.
"Excuse me, do
you know where Jihad Raundel is?"
"Huh?"
When Nozomu and the
others turned toward the voice, they saw a woman who looked too out of place to
be in an academy like this.
"Um. Who are
you?"
"Pleased to meet
you. I am Mekuria Afflict, a person who serves the Fabran family."
"The Fabran
family..."
Irisdina, who heard
the name Fabran, turned a probing gaze toward the woman named Mekuria. Like
Irisdina, she had shiny black hair that reached her waist, and her body was so
voluptuous it was reminiscent of a ripe fruit. Her body, wrapped in a black
outfit that was reminiscent of a funeral dress, had a chest that was pushed up
tightly, and her slender, white legs, which were taut, could be seen from the
slit in her skirt. Her face was as well-proportioned as a doll's, with sickly
white skin and clear, glass-like eyes. At first glance, her appearance was like
that of a pure and elegant lady, but the seductive smile on her lips, combined
with her black outfit, made her look like a bewitching snake.
"Are you the
young lady of the Francilt family? It's a pleasure to make your
acquaintance."
"No, the pleasure
is all mine. I've heard of you, Mekuria-dono. You're a very capable person who
is also trusted by Egurodo Fabran-dono."
"It's an honor to
be remembered by the next head of the Francilt family."
Irisdina and the woman
named Mekuria exchanged a formal greeting as nobles. With their refined
greetings and words, a glamorous atmosphere, which was different from their
usual student life, filled the area. Both of them were smiling and praising
each other. Irisdina was praising the fact that the Fabran family had
acknowledged her. Mekuria was praising Irisdina's achievement of being the top
student of her grade at Solminati Academy. The conversation between the two
continued with smiles and solemn words.
Naturally, Nozomu and
the others, who were commoners, could not join in such a conversation, and they
could only silently watch the situation unfold. But even though the atmosphere
seemed graceful at first glance, Nozomu felt a tense air in the conversation
between the two. It was a black-and-white monochrome, as if they were hiding a
poisoned knife behind their backs. Nozomu gulped.
For a while, the two
of them continued their conversation without any problems, but eventually,
Irisdina asked Mekuria as if she had just remembered something.
"By the way,
Mekuria-dono, what business do you have at this academy today?"
"I came to this
academy because I have something to discuss with Jihad-dono, but he wasn't in
his office..."
"Jihad-dono is in
the Martial Arts Garden."
Irisdina looked at the
Martial Arts Garden, which they had just come out of.
"Thank you very
much. I'll be going now..."
Mekuria bowed deeply
and disappeared into the Martial Arts Garden. Nozomu, who had been watching the
situation, went over to Irisdina.
"Irisdina, is she
an acquaintance of yours?"
"No, I haven't
met her in person. The Fabran family is a rather large family in the Foschia
Kingdom, just like mine. I've met the head of that family a few times at
parties."
"I see..."
A silence fell after
Nozomu's disinterested reply. He didn't know much about the noble society, but
from that heavy atmosphere, he could tell that their relationship was not a
friendly one, to say the least.
"But for that,
your replies were rather lackluster, weren’t they? And wasn't the atmosphere
strangely heavy for a first meeting?"
Amidst the silence,
Feo, with his usual boldness, broke the silence and asked a direct question.
Irisdina gave a wry smile at the impudent Feo.
"Well, my family,
the Francilt family, and that family don't have a very good relationship, to
say the least. We're political rivals, you could say..."
"Oh, so that's
why the atmosphere was like that," Nozomu and the others understood. The
atmosphere had indeed been strangely tense for a first meeting.
"My family, the
Francilt family, was in favor of the construction of this Solminati Academy,
and my father worked hard for the construction of Arcazam not only in the
Foschia Kingdom but also throughout the continent. On the other hand, the
Fabran family has consistently been against it."
According to Irisdina,
Mekuria was a woman who had started serving the Fabran family a few years ago.
At that time, the Fabran family was facing a problem that was said to take 20
years to solve. However, Mekuria had solved that problem in a few months. Her
achievement at that time was acknowledged, and she was now directly serving the
head of the Fabran family. As they could see, she was also a very beautiful
woman, so there were times when they would hear about her in social circles.
"The Fabran
family has been recovering their influence at an amazing pace recently. And the
driving force behind that is said to be Mekuria-dono."
"From what
Irisdina-san said, it seems she's quite a capable person..."
"What business
could a messenger from such a family have here?"
"I don't
know..."
It seemed that even
Irisdina didn't know why such an important person from a prestigious family had
come to this academy.
"Well, there's no
point in worrying about it, is there? If she's someone Irisdina doesn't even
know much about, there's no point in us discussing it here, right?"
Mars was not very good
at thinking, but what he said was, in a way, right. To be honest, it was clear
that with so little information, no answer would come from a discussion here
and now. The business Mekuria had brought might not have been a good thing, but
this academy was created by the consensus of countries from all over the
continent. It was hard to imagine it being swayed by the words of a single
country's prominent figure.
"Well, that's
true, but..."
"Anyway, let's go
to the courtyard. To be honest, because of Jihad-sensei, we have to hurry or
we'll miss lunch..."
Mimuru was urging
them, as if she was very hungry. Her tail and ears were drooping listlessly,
and it looked like her stomach would growl at any moment.
"That's true.
Then let's go."
Irisdina shrugged her
shoulders at Mimuru's appearance and gave a genuine smile that was different
from when she had faced Mekuria earlier, and started walking toward the
courtyard. The courtyard had a lot of shade from the trees, making it a good
place to cool down from the hot summer sun. Tom and the others also followed
Mimuru, who was cheering and clenching her fist. Nozomu was looking at his
friends, who were smiling happily, from behind.
"Hey,
Nozomu..."
"Hmm?"
When he noticed,
Irisdina was next to him. She was playing with her hair and glancing at Nozomu
as if she had something difficult to say.
"Did I make you
feel uncomfortable?"
"Huh?"
"I mean... me,
just now."
It seemed that
Irisdina was quite concerned about her attitude that she had shown in her
interaction with Mekuria. She probably didn't want her friends to see her like
that. It was the figure of her as the next head of the family, which was
different from the one Nozomu had seen in the academy and Arcazam until now.
Nozomu was indeed
surprised by the interaction between Irisdina and Mekuria. Nozomu had never
actually seen Irisdina's behavior as a noble. And if it was against a political
rival like just now, his surprise would have been even greater.
But Nozomu had no
intention of changing his attitude toward Irisdina because of that. He was
surprised and a little pressured, but he didn't dislike her for it. Nozomu
shook his head as if to say he didn't mind, but for some reason, Irisdina's expression
still didn't improve. The way she was looking at him was like a child who was afraid
of the dark.
"......Is that
so?"
"Of course it is,
what are you talking about?"
He had to be tough
with her here. After all, if their relationship was only that deep, Nozomu
wouldn't have revealed his painful past. The same went for Tiamat.
Saying that, Nozomu
pointed to Mimuru, Mars, and Somia, who were urging them to hurry, and the rest
of their friends, who were waiting for them after turning around.
"That's right, I
don't think anyone else cares either, you know?"
"Hey! You two,
hurry up!"
"Sister, what's
wrong~!"
"What are you two
doing?! We're going to lose our lunch break!"
The figures of her
friends, who were completely unchanged, came into Irisdina's eyes. Nozomu
winked at Irisdina and shrugged his shoulders, then hurried toward his friends
to urge her to follow him. Irisdina also followed him, thinking about the gazes
of the people around them. The smile on her face was different from when she
had faced Mekuria; it was bright and colorful.
***
While Nozomu and the
others were heading to the courtyard, Jihad and Inda received the letter from
the Fabran family that Mekuria had brought as a messenger. However, Jihad's
appearance was not that of an honorable hero, but more like a dirt-covered
construction worker.
"Well then, I
have surely delivered the letter from my master."
"Thank you very
much for your kind consideration. Would you like to take a little tour of the
academy now?"
Jihad handed the
letter to Inda and asked Mekuria if she would like to take a tour of the
academy. However, she politely declined his offer.
"No, thank you
for the invitation, but I have other business to attend to today. It's a
magnificent school building, isn't it..."
Mekuria looked at the Martial
Arts Garden and the white school building she could see in the back. Her gaze,
which was devoid of any color, swept across the circular Martial Arts Garden
and was then directed at Jihad again. Her gaze was cold and freezing. It was
not like Inda's eyes, which hid warmth within their sternness, but eyes that
were completely devoid of any humanity.
"But it's sad.
There are still many people who can't return to their hometowns and are
suffering. We must do something to let them return to their hometowns as soon
as possible."
"Yes, we will
also do our best for that."
Jihad and Mekuria
exchanged formal words. In reality, the meaning behind their words was far from
friendly. In short, Mekuria was implying, "We need military power
immediately. There's no point in spending money squeezed out by blood and sweat
in a place like this," and Jihad completely ignored Mekuria's true
intention by replying, "We will continue to work hard and educate our students."
"Well then,
please excuse me. I'll be staying in this town for a while under my master's
orders."
Mekuria, who had her
words completely brushed off, left without showing any displeasure. What was
left were Jihad, who was covered in dirt, and Inda, who was holding the letter.
"What in the
world is the Fabran family thinking?"
"Well, for the
most part..."
Jihad grabbed the
letter he had given to Inda, broke the seal, and began to read the contents.
Inda frowned at his impolite behavior, but Jihad ignored her accusing gaze and
continued to read as if it were a matter of course.
Eventually, Jihad
snorted and handed the letter back to Inda.
"Um, what was
written in it?"
"It's a letter of
protest about the Abyss Grief incident the other day. Honestly, how could they
think they could abolish this academy with a letter of protest from a prominent
figure, no matter how prestigious their family is?"
The letter contained a
long protest about the revival of the Abyss Grief the other day. It was filled
with detailed protests and demands, such as not to force an experiment that
wasn't safe and what it meant that the council members' lives were in danger
and that people were injured. In short, it was harassment in the form of a
letter. The content was honestly so impressive that it made them wonder how
they could think of so many things to complain about. And at the end of the
letter, it said:
"In light of the
current continental situation, reclaiming the land lost 10 years ago is a
matter of utmost importance for all countries. We would like to ask Solminati
Academy for even more cooperation in the future."
"In other words,
they're saying to abolish this academy and send the students out as
soldiers."
Jihad raised both of
his hands in exasperation. His frustration could be felt in the words he spat
out.
"However, the
Abyss Grief incident has been resolved. The fact that they sent this
means..."
"It's just
harassment. And by mentioning it, they might be trying to restrain our
actions."
It was a tactic that
if they pointed out their opponent's mistake, it might be used as a bargaining
chip in future negotiations. They probably wanted to make it one of their
bargaining chips to blame their opponents by shouting, "we warned you at that time!" if a
similar incident were to happen in the future. However, the persistence and
pettiness of filling every corner of the letter with such things were, to be
honest, unsightly.
"What do we
do?"
"If they're just
making a fuss, we'll leave them alone. We can't forbid them from sending
letters, and we can just let them say what they want to say. But I'm curious
about why Mekuria-dono came to this town. Just in case, we should keep track of
her actions."
"Understood.
Then, Jihad-dono, please continue."
Saying that, Inda
pointed at the large hole in the field that was only half-filled.
"...Am I still
the one who has to do it?"
"Yes, please
hurry. There's not much time until the afternoon classes begin. Please hurry,
as there's more work to be done after you finish filling up the hole."
Behind her polite
words was the voice of a demon instructor saying, "Hurry up!" He was
hit with a unilateral order that had no room for compromise, and the cleanup,
or civil engineering work, resumed.
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Geral Aponso
MaxKne
[Gold]
B random
DavidA
Nepheos
ShitaiNoKootoRyuu
[Silver]
1EYED_SLOTH
Creris
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Matthew Fraser
Anton Lim
Crushingon
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Joe Smith
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
